‘Paranormal Activity’ VR Game Debuts at SXSW, Game Developers Conference

The “Paranormal Activity VR” game, set to launch in full later this year across multiple virtual reality platforms. gets two previews in the coming days, one of them at the SXSW Gaming Expo in Austin, Texas from March 16-18,

Based on Paramount Pictures’ horror franchise, it will also debut at the Global Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco from March 14-16.

According to Fortune, developer VRWERX, a division of Beast Media Group, will debut the VR game on Facebook’s Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and Sony PlayStation VR.

Alex Barder, co-managing partner of VRWERX, said that “it was really important for us to capture the essence of the ‘Paranormal Activity’ universe. This game is a continuation of the franchise; a next chapter spawning from this fantastic mythology.”

The interactive demo that debuted on HTC Vives in AMC Theaters in October last year has evolved, according to Russell Naftal, the co-managing partner at VRWERX.

“This game is a full ‘AAA’ title with three hours of story and up to six hours of gameplay for those who want to explore every aspect of this world,” Naftal said. “The original demo was more experiential, whereas this is a video-game experience.”

VRWERX has worked on games like “Call of Duty,” “Homefront,” “Madden” and “Defiance.” Naftal and Barder created the company to explore virtual reality on higher-end platforms like PlayStation 4. Now the duo believes that “Paranormal Activity VR” will let audiences live through the new found footage horror experience.

“Imagine if at the completion of this game, someone would have found the footage of you playing in the house and then shared it,” Naftal said. “We would see this from the angles of the cameras in the house.”

“We believed horror had the potential of being the most visceral experience, and we concluded the best way to launch is with a known brand,” Barder says. “We’ve both been huge fans of the ‘Paranormal Activity’ franchise for a long time, so we approached Paramount Pictures and were able to strike a deal.”

The “Paranormal Activity” films have grossed over $401 million at the domestic box office since 2009.

Rod Sterling's anthology "The Twilight Zone" set the standard for eerie on television during its run from 1959 to 1964. The series was revived once in 1985 for CBS and again in 2002 for UPN.

CBS

"Tales From the Crypt" (1989)

Another anthology series, "Tales From the Crypt" ran on HBO for seven seasons between 1989 and 1996, during which time it became famous for its wisecracking host, The Crypt Keeper, voiced by John Kassir.

HBO

"The X-Files" (1993)

Spanning nine seasons, Fox's "The X-Files" was revived in 2008 for a film, "The X-Files: I Want to Believe" and for a six-episode event series in 2016.

Each episode of Showtime's anthology horror series was directed by a different one of creator Mick Garris' director friends. The series featured episodes from John Carpenter, Joe Dante and Tobe Hooper.

Showtime

"Harper's Island" (2009)

"Harper's Island" received disappointing ratings upon its premiere in 2009, but the series had its die-hard fans. Viewers were encouraged to play along and try to solve the show's central mystery as more and more characters were killed off each week.

Ryan Murphy's FX series follows in the tradition of horror anthology TV series, with the same cast playing different characters in a different story each season. Repertory player Jessica Lange bowed out for the fifth season, but Matt Bomer and Lady Gaga joined returning players Sarah Paulson and Emma Roberts for "American Horror Story: Hotel."

Showtime's period horror drama "Penny Dreadful," which takes its name from a type of cheap sensationalist fiction published in 19th-century Britain, adapts its characters from classic works of fiction, including Oscar Wilde's "The Picture of Dorian Gray" and Bram Stoker's "Dracula."